Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

La biblioteca del Monte Char by Scott Hawkins

29 reviews

silverheartbookclub's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, and Car accident

jennramsdell's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This story is sweeping, creating an entire world and mythology you have to piece together. I really enjoyed how Hawkins laid out information bit by bit for you to pick up, and how gory and descriptive his writing is. Brutal at times, hopeful at times too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and War

evandaniel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I don’t really even know how to describe this. Recommend for fans of Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Terry Pratchett who aren’t sensitive to violence.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

tew_11's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book read to me like American Gods by Neil Gaiman in the way that larger forces at play manipulate "everyday" people. It was truly one of the most gory books I've read so I would not recommend to the faint of heart. Really interesting and I had a hard time putting it down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Car accident

4jakers18's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

lanid's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use and Excrement

nicoleme1212's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mass/school shootings

printzgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 Plot: 4/5

Characters: 4/5

Worldbuilding: 3/5

Writing: 3/5

Overall: 4/5

Darkness level: Not very dark. One scary haunted house-esque scene and a description of how a ghost died. However, rated R for some graphic sex scenes

This year, I've been on the lookout for fantasy books that don't follow traditional epic fantasy conventions. No big quests to defeat a world-ending villain. So I was really excited to see a modern fantasy romance book come up as a recommendation for this category. I can count the number of romance books I've read on one hand, which made this book an exciting change for me. Vivienne is a college student studying witchcraft with her aunt and cousin. After her summer fling breaks her heart, she drunkenly curses her ex. Ten years later, Vivienne's ex reappears in her hometown to renew the ley lines that power her family's magic. It turns out that the joking curse she cast on him was a real curse, and now the entire town is going haywire. Vivienne and her ex have to fix the town's magic and resolved their messy feelings for each other. 

This book was very fun. I loved the lighthearted, everyday approach to witches and magic. The characters were memorable and easy to like. My biggest complaint was that there was a lot of lust in this book. I know that it's a romance, but the main characters probably devoted 75% of their mental energy to thinking about how hot the other one was. It was cute/funny at first, but got old after a while. Even people who are in the honeymoon stage of a relationship don't think about each other that much! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape

rachelunabridged's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder